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Trump is being placed in 'bubble wrap' to keep him from 'babbling': Morning Joe

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough urged Nikki Haley to open up a new line of attack against "snowflake" Donald Trump ahead of the South Carolina primary.

The former president easily won both contests in Iowa and New Hampshire, but Haley performed better than expected in the latter primary and clearly infuriated Trump by remaining in the race, and the "Morning Joe" host said the former South Carolina governor has exposed a major weakness.

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'Make it hurt': Expert says E. Jean Carroll lawyer will go for Trump's jugular

When E. Jean Carroll's attorney Roberta Kaplan makes her closing argument, expected on Friday, she will ask the jury in the high-profile defamation trial to hit Donald Trump so hard in the wallet that he will fear attacking her client once again.

That is the opinion of MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin, who explained to the "Morning Joe" panel on Friday morning that the former president could be on the hook for tens of millions of dollars in punitive damages above the estimated $12.1 million reportedly being sought by the New York writer.

Asked by MSNBC contributor Katty Kay, "What is the scale of compensation of damages we are looking at here?" Rubin suggested the dollar amount could be astronomical.

"First of all, something far more than what she was awarded last time, where the award was $5 million, based on her sexual assault and defamation claims from one incident in October 2022," Rubin replied.

ALSO READ: Trump suggests he will ‘suspend my campaign’ to seemingly dupe supporters out of cash

'You and I both know, when you tell a lie after the first time, it's far more damaging," she continued. "Her lawyers are asking for 20 plus million dollars to compensate her for her injuries, and then four, five, six times that for punitive damages."

"It's not clear to me they will actually ask for a specific amount or even multiplier of the compensatory damages," she elaborated. "They will say think about what he told you: he was worth billions and billions and billions in his brand alone, he has $400 million cash on hand — make it hurt."

Watch below or at the link.

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'Shamelessly cynical' Trump sets up standoff with McConnell: Morning Joe panelist

Panelists on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" bashed Republican lawmakers for bowing to Donald Trump's "cynical" effort to sink a border security bill to help his chances for re-election.

The former president has long made border security a top political priority, but Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) privately cast doubt on a bipartisan compromise to tighten immigration laws because Trump opposed the measure.

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'That's utter BS': CNN analyst tears apart former GOP pollster's pro-Trump spin

Former Republican pollster Lee Carter on Friday tried to put her best spin on former President Donald Trump's strategy of tanking a bipartisan border deal for his own political gain.

After playing video clips of Republican senators acknowledging that Trump is putting pressure on them to tank the deal, Carter argued that this kind of sabotage of bipartisan negotiations is exactly what many pro-Trump voters want.

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'You're gonna get sued again': Expert says Trump is begging for more punishment

Attorney Rebecca LeGrand told CNN host Laura Coates that former President Donald Trump is risking further legal problems by continuing to defame E. Jean Carroll.

"He's still out there doing it," she said. "He's inviting the next suit right now."

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CNN host Kaitlan Collins presses GOP senator on Trump's influence over lawmakers

An historic deal that lawmakers have been hashing out since October is purportedly at risk thanks to Donald Trump.

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) spoke to CNN's Kaitlan Collins on "The Source" about how critical legislation is in danger of being killed by the former president playing pretend POTUS.

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Alina Habba was 'a little sneaky' before being 'shut down' by Trump trial judge: expert

The New York judge in Trump's second defamation case involving E. Jean Carroll permitted only a "little bit" of sneakiness by Alina Habba before she was shut down, a legal expert said Thursday.

That's all according to former federal prosecutor Harry Litman whose "Talking Feds" series on YouTube attempted to decipher the cryptic three minutes of what he called "nontestimony testimony" by former President Donald Trump on Thursday in Manhattan federal court. Litman said that performance will send the jury to "scratch" their heads.

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'He was a bit nervous': Trump aide says ex-president was 'intimidated' by Carroll judge

America isn't Trumpistan.

Former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham appearing on CNN's "Out Front" said she believes that her former boss and the 45th president was a small figure in Judge Lewis Kaplan's courtroom when he took the stand in the defamation case against him for disparaging E. Jean Carroll, a writer claiming he sexually assaulted her back in the 1990s.

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'Absolute impunity': Ex-prosecutor outraged Trump got no punishment for disobeying judge

Former President Donald Trump has continued to attack writer E. Jean Carroll as her civil defamation trial against him unfolds — and at trial today, he denied sexually assaulting her and besmirched her credibility, two things Judge Lewis Kaplan had explicitly prohibited him from doing before he moved to testify. But he faced no consequences for his actions, apart from having some of his commentary stricken from the record.

The current civil trial Trump faces is purely about assessing damages, and is not intended to revisit the facts that previous juries ruled against Trump on.

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Expert explains Trump's 'one hope' to minimize massive verdict in E. Jean Carroll case

Trump's three-minute testimony in his defamation suit case may have boosted his stock with the jurors who will decide his financial fate.

"He did manage to -- within the tight confines that were established to support his case," Norm Eisen said during an appearance on CNN. "Even though the judge struck it."

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'Jumbled mind': Trump biographer explains ex-president's motives at E. Jean Carroll trial

Former President Donald Trump's testimony in the E. Jean Carroll trial today was more about preparing to use the result as a soapbox than to actually try to notch a legal win, argued biographer David Cay Johnston on Thursday's edition of MSNBC's "The ReidOut."

Carroll alleges the former president sexually assaulted her in the dressing room of a Manhattan department store, although the current trial does not put that fact, which was litigated in a former civil trial, in dispute, and purely seeks to assess damages.

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'Evasive' Alina Habba gave a 'really telling' answer in Trump trial today: expert

Neither Alina Habba nor Hercules could ensure Donald Trump as a client will obey rules.

Legal analyst Lisa Rubin appearing on MSNBC's "The Reid Out" explained how difficult it is to represent a massive figure like former President Donald Trump while still trying to keep to the court strictures.

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Trump may have soured the jury in E. Jean Carroll case with courtroom antics: legal expert

Former President Donald Trump did himself no favors in his appearance in court for the E. Jean Carroll trial, argued former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance on Thursday's edition of MSNBC's "The Beat."

Carroll, an advice columnist, alleges Trump sexually assaulted her in a Manhattan department store in the 1990s. A jury already found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation, and the current trial is purely about assessing additional damages. Trump has responded to his legal troubles by continuing to attack Carroll on social media.

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